Chevy goes from 'technology and stuff' to boring and forgettable

This year's World Series worked out much better for "Chevy Guy" Rikk Wilde. His beloved Royals won, and Wilde didn't find himself sweating and stammering on national TV.

But for Chevrolet, Wilde's absence meant its presentation of a 2016 Camaro to the series' Most Valuable Player, Royals catcher Salvador Perez, was forgotten as soon as it happened. It was so boring that nobody even bothered to post the video on YouTube.

A year ago, Wilde, Chevy's regional zone manager in Kansas City, momentarily became a national celebrity for his train wreck of a speech while giving San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner the keys to a Colorado after the Giants beat the Royals. Chevy quickly seized on the unscripted moment by altering its marketing campaign to incorporate Wilde's awkward description of the pickup as having lots of "technology and stuff."

Last week, after the Royals topped the New York Mets in five games, it was Chevy's U.S. sales chief, Brian Sweeney, who gave Perez a 2016 Camaro. Aside from partially turning his back to the camera, Sweeney was polished, succinct and entirely unmemorable.

Even if the series had gone back to Kansas City for Game 6, Chevy wasn't planning to put Wilde in the spotlight again.

"Let's just say after his brush with fame last year, he was happy to go back doing what he does best," Chevrolet spokesman Mike Albano wrote in an email. "I heard today that he is very happy with the KC win."

Meanwhile, the only people talking about Chevy on social media after the Royals' win were fans hoping to see Wilde again.

"3 outs away from #chevyguy!!!!!!!!!!" Eric Gage, the host of a hockey show on SiriusXM Canada, wrote on Twitter as Game 5 entered the bottom of the 12th inning well after midnight in New York. "Literally been waiting 360 days for this. #WorldSeries."

"Aww come on," Diana Pugliese, a sportswriter in Lancaster, Pa., wrote after Perez got his Camaro. "I had to sit through that game and we don't even get the Chevy #technologyandstuff guy?"